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chronic pain

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It has been too long since I wrote... I am not a hundred percent sure why.... but I suspect that it is because I felt little a bit like a hypocrite.

 I have always been the one that said that we should be honest about our feelings and be authentic in our responses to our pain. Well... I have not been. You see, even though I had been honest in the pain I feel,  I have not been completely honest about my lack of desire to not feel the pain.

There was and is a part of me that wants to remain in the pain. It makes me get up in the morning, because it reminds me to do everything possible not to feel this kind of loss again. The pain reminds me to be extra vigilant in loving my other two kids. I don't want to miss out on anything in their lives... It gives me a crutch to lean on... as if I have permission to not be my best but at the same time a motivation... an extra push to do better and live better .

In trying to make sense of this for myself, I turned to "The Weeping Prophet, Jeremiah". He complains to God about his pain and this is what he says,
 "But why, why this chronic pain, this ever worsening wound and no healing in sight? You’re nothing, God, but a mirage, a lovely oasis in the distance—and then nothing!" (Jer 15:18 - The Message)
I am not quite sure how to respond to Jeremiah, but I know that I never want to feel like that. Can you imagine the depth of the loneliness of the Prophet Jeremiah... not sure I can call God a mirage... not sure i ever would want to. The only sense in my chronic pain is Christ... I'd  rather say that pain is part and parcel of our lives and I'm not so sure about whether or not life without pain is ever worth living. You see, if we never know pain,  we can never truly appreciate life without pain... I hate that I think that this is true... Maybe it is just my mind's way of trying to justify the pain I have in my life. Perhaps  there is some greater wisdom or mystic revelation that pain carries or maybe it's senseless.... . 

 There is this song, Holiness, by Micah Stampley, that just completely messed me up.  In the song,  there is a verse that says  "Brokenness, that's what I long for...  what I need... is what You want for me."
I know I am probably completely missing the context of the song but I began to think that, "as long as I see my brokenness and experience my brokenness, the more I am dependent on God for my Holiness. The more wounded I am,  the more I need the healer...??? I don't know... All I know is that I never want to feel that my pain is so much that God feels like a mirage in the distance. I also don't want to idolize my pain and see it as some type of special passage or chanel to God... as if I cannot meet with God at anytime.

 So as much as my pain (brokenness) helps and informs my Theology, it can never be the motivation for my Service to God. It can never be a good enough motivation for me to serve and love my family. There has to be more...

 So here is my pledge, "I will do my best to trust God to move me beyond the pain. Because beyond the pain there is love and hope... These, I think, is a greater motivation for my life. 


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